WTO establishes panel to examine Qatar’s complaint against UAE

Over the past few months Katfriend Riyadh Al-Balushi (SOAS University
of London) has covered the IP implications of the Qatar diplomatic crisis [here,
here,
here]
for our blog.

The latest development is that the World
Trade Organization (WTO) has now set up a panel to examine Qatar’s complaint
against UAE.

Riyadh tells it all. Here’s what he
writes:

“The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the
World Trade Organization (WTO) has agreed to establish a panel to examine
Qatar’s complaint against the UAE in relation to the sanctions imposed against
Qatar amidst the ongoing diplomatic crisis of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Qatar’s complaint alleges that the sanctions
imposed on it by the UAE violate a variety of obligations under the GATT, GATS,
and TRIPS agreements. In regard to IP in particular, in the document it
submitted in October, Qatar claims that the UAE’s sanctions violate Articles 3
and 4 (relating to national treatment and most favoured nation treatment) and
Articles 41, 42, and 61 (relating to the enforcement intellectual property
rights) of the TRIPS Agreement.

The UAE refused to engage in consultations
with Qatar to address the complaint and argues that the measures it had taken
are meant to protect the UAE's essential security interests and are accordingly
in full conformity with WTO rules. The UAE argues that the WTO does not have
the authority to second guess a member's determination of its national security
interests.

Qatar responded to the UAE’s claims by
arguing that the security exceptions in GATT, GATS, and TRIPS agreements are
subject to multilateral review - and cannot be imposed on the basis of a
member’s own determination.

The DSB agreed to Qatar’s request and
decided to establish a panel to examine the complaint. The members of the pane
have not been appointed until now.

Qatar has also initiated similar complaints
against Bahrain and Saudi (the other two GCC countries involved in the
diplomatic dispute), but these complaints have not moved beyond the
consultation stage.